20 Of The Best Mountain Climbing Movies Of All Time

Mountain climbing is a form of sport, adventure or hobby where people climb a mountain to reach its highest peak. It includes hiking, rappelling, rock climbing. Mountain climbing is dangerous depending on the type of the cliff and the weather conditions.

The mountain climbers consider a lot of different kinds of risks they are willing to take. Since the late 1970s, a lot of movies has been released based on mountain climbing featuring all aspects related to it. Some of them are based on a true story. Here is a synopsis of the best 20 mountain climbing movies of all time.

1. Everest(2015): The movie shows the journey of two expedition groups trying to survive the 1996 Mount Everest disaster based on the real story. Rob Hall started his journey to conquer Mount Everest with his partners. They faced a lot of disastrous situations and accidents, survives some of them and some climbers were also able to mark their spots on the mountain. Many climbers including Rob embraced death, where only a few returned home being weak and severely injured.

2. Touching the Void (2003): Two friends Joe and Simon started went to ascend West Face of Siula Grande. They reached the top and conquered it. But Joe broke his leg and fell over the edge due to a storm while descending. Simon tried his best to rescue him and eventually lost his track. So he returned to the camp alone. Meanwhile, Joe survived and managed himself to reach the camp despite the broken leg.

3. 127 Hours (2010): This is based on a true story of climber Aron Ralston to survive after a stone breaks his right arm, falling him in a deep canyon. He has to drink his urine and cut his hand using a pocket knife. He descended from 65-foot long rock rappelling with one hand and save himself.

4. Blindsight(2006): It shows a journey of 6 blind Tibetian teenagers to ascend Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest. A blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer guided them. It pictures of their sorrows of being shunned by their community and almost impossible journey to climb the mountain.

5. The Summit (2012): It is a documentary film representing the k2 disaster in 2008. 11 climbers out of 24 faced death within a short time. One climber Ger McDonnell lost his life to save the life of three climbers.

6. Meru (2015): three mountaineers attempted to climb to Mount Meru of Himalayan. They tried to reach the top of Meru but failed at the first attempt. Then they tried again and finally succeeded leading by some horrific situations.

7. Beyond the edge (2013): This documentary movie focused on the ascent of Mount Everest leading by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953. We all know that they are the first two people who reached the summit of Mount Everest. The movie stuns the audiences by containing all the hostile and treacherous situations during the expedition.

8. Seven years in Tibet (1997): Austrian Heinrich Harrer decided to scale a peak of Himalayan leaving his wife. But the Second World War started, and he was arrested. He managed to break out with his friend Peter Aufschnaiter, reached a forbidden city in Tibet.

9. North Face (2008): This film draws the adventure of conquering the most dangerous rockface, Eiger in the Alps. Three friends Toni, Andi and Louise, began their journey where they teamed up with two Austrians. Some climbers including Toni lost their life by freezing and in catastrophic incidents. Louise was so depressed and shattered losing her lover Toni and other friends.

10. The Dawn Wall (2018): It is based on the breath-taking adventure of Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson climbing a 3,000-foot high rock face, Dawn Wall. After practicing for 6 years, they choose a dangerous route for ascending the mountain. Their journey contains a lot of survival techniques, determination, a lot of troubles, accidents and above all, their friendship.

11. Vertical Limit (2000): Peter Garrett and his team opted for climbing up K2, the world’s second highest mountain. His sister Annie and a climber Vaughn got trapped in an icy grave. Wick and Peter tried a lot to pull them out of the cave. A fallen stone worsened the situation and kept them hanging onto a rope. Wick saved Peter and Annie by cutting the rope holding Vaughn and himself.

12. K2 (1991): two best friends Taylor Brooks and Harold Jameson saved the life of Phillip Claiborne and other mountaineers after an accident while climbing. They joined Claiborne on the next expedition. Claiborne called off the expedition due to sudden sickness. But Taylor and Harold didn’t give up and continued their journey.

13. Cliffhanger (1993): Hal and his girlfriend Sarah were trapped on a peak of a cliff. Gabe and Jessie rescued their friend Hal but unfortunately failed to save Sarah. Hal kept blaming Gabe for her death. But they reunited together to help some stranded climbers. They befriended again defeating all bad people looking for money and the unfriendly mountain conditions.

14. The Eiger Sanction (1975): Jonathan Hemlock was forced to find out a Russian killer disguised as a climber. He had to join an expedition team to climb the Eiger, the mountain he failed twice to climb up. This thriller shows how Jonathan found the killer, handled him and save the life of his team members.

15. To the Limit (2007): Thomas and Alexander Huber are too obsessed to ride mountains. They went to break the speed climbing record of the 2,900ft mountain in Yosemite Valley. The movie covers their daring journey of crossing across dangerous thin edges recklessly.

16. Free Solo (2018): Alex Honnold tried to be the first person who climbs El Capitan alone. To make the lifelong dream come true, he started the exhibition without a rope. After facing a lot of dangerous situations, he finally succeeded in this challenge.

17. Alive (1993): A plane containing a rugby team of 45 people crashed on the Andes Mountains in 1972. They were not found and considered to be dead. The survivors had no other option than eating flesh from the dead bodies. Two months later,16 were rescued alive.

18. Valley uprising (2014): It features the cultural journey of mountain climbing in Yosemite. It is all about the survivals of the counterculture climbers against the dangerous Yosemite’s cliffs for triumphing over each other for supremacy.

19. K2 and the Invisible Footmen (2015): a group of climbers attempted to win over K2, the world’s harshest mountain with some porters along with them. The porters carried safety gears for other climbers risking their own life. The movie is based on the horrific disaster which killed 7 mountaineers along with 4 porters in 2008.

20. The Wildest Dream (2010): In 1924 mountaineer George Mallory attempted to step on the summit of the untouched Mount Everest. Unfortunately, he was found dead. After finding his body in 1999, Conrad Anker stepped to Everest for discovering the mysteries about his death.

Final Words

Each year many climbers die because of sudden weather change, insufficient foods, slipping from the vertical cliffs or injury. But man is equally stubborn for not bowing down to the mountain. In spite of all competitive situations, once you conquer a mountain, the victory is priceless.

Besides, we can deny the fun, adventure and making strong bonds with the people in stressful situations. The whole picture of the troubles, enjoyment, and friendship is drawn in each movie. If you love adventure and thrilling movies, you can’t take your eyes off for a single moment.

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